The World Cup final was disappointingly one-sided as the Kiwis just did not take wing. Australia started the match strongly and won it in intimidating fashion. The massive support for New Zealand remained an indulgence in support of the underdog, alas, not matched in reality.

From the first over, in which Brendon McCullum’s derring-do was stymied by a 150kph yorker from Mitchel Starc, the game swung the way of the Aussies and parity was never restored.

It would seem a travesty of cricketing logic that only one wicket – that too in the first over of the match – could have such a large bearing on the outcome. Indeed, after the final was completed, McCullum spoke of the three wickets lost in the second powerplay as the turning point of the match.

I wouldn’t deny that the New Zealand innings, which appeared to have stabilised through the century partnership between Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott, ran out of steam in the powerplay. Yet, it was McCullum’s wicket at the start which had the greatest impact on the match in my opinion.

McCullum’s intrepid batting had been the launch pad for New Zealand’s brilliant performances in reaching the final. He may not have scored too many runs, and several of his innings were cameos. But it was the manner in which he had demolished the best bowlers of the opposition that had set the tenor for his team’s victories.

When the two teams met in the league stage in a low-scoring thriller, McCullum had given his side a stirring start which proved invaluable in the last over finish to chase down a paltry 150 even as Starc was running amok.

Since that match, Starc had emerged as the tournament’s best bowler barring none with his hostile pace and his superbly nuanced late swing. The contest between these two promised not only to be the piece de resistance of the final, but also how the match would perhaps pan out.

As it happened, the contest was very, very short-lived, lasting all of three balls, two of which McCullum played and missed before having his off-stump knocked out of the ground by a yorker which torpedoed on to the base of off-stump. It was a thrilling piece of cricket, no doubt, but only for one team.

New Zealand, who had won an important toss, were looking for a score of at least 300 on a pitch that was excellent for batting, as it transpired later. To get to that score, a head-start from McCullum was imperative because though the New Zealand had batsmen down the order, they lacked depth of experience.

His dismissal not only pumped up the Aussies at the very start, but also sent shivers in his own dressing room. True, in the semi-final against South Africa too McCullum had not scored too many.

But the Aussies were clearly more regimented than the South Africans and hungrier to win.

Once they had the big wicket early and caused the psychological damage, the Australian bowlers and fielders simply throttled the New Zealand batting. There were hardly any loose deliveries from any of the bowlers, forget run-making, even survival was difficult.

The tension that this built up in the New Zealand camp was evident from the collapse in the powerplay, which effectively scuttled their chances from even reaching 250 which could have given the bowlers some score to defend.

But I venture that even that would have been inadequate to overwhelm the Australians, so true did the pitch play. There was some kind of hope that was kindled when it was realised that New Zealand’s score at 183 was India’s score in the 1983 final when the mighty West Indies were beaten.

But this was proved to be so much mumbo-jumbo. Clarke, playing his last ODI, played his swansong with supreme mellifluousness while Steve Smith took one more step towards greatness. In just 33.1 overs Australia, had sealed the result in a style befitting the best side in the world.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2015

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